Computer-disk Maker Has Been Losing Money

For years the anonymous producer of computer disk memories, Tandon Corp. has only recently gotten accustomed to having its own name on the outside of the computer box.

Tandon`s disk drives are found in IBM personal computers, and its own computers are mostly found disguised as those sold by Tandy Corp. In West Germany and Britain, however, Tandon`s new computers have their own identity.

It remains to be seen whether computers represent Tandon`s salvation. Tandon lost $50 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year and has reduced its workforce from 2,450 in March 1984 to about 1,000 now. Dan Wilkie, former IBM-Boca Raton manager, will arrive at Tandon just in time to have his face printed in a dreary annual report.

Tandon lost so much money because its disk drives were priced higher than the market would bear. In each of the last four quarters, Tandon reported a writedown or loss provision related to its inventory problems.

Jean W. Orr, a Tandon analyst for Drexel Burnham Lambert, said she thinks the firm`s future will depend on its IBM contracts.

``The outlook for Tandon, I think, is an awful lot tied to whether they can continue to be a floppy-disk supplier to IBM,`` Orr said. ``I don`t know if there`s a message in this (the Wilkie hiring) or not.``

Receiving good news for once, Tandon shareholders saw a modest increase in the value of their stock on Monday when it closed at $3.75 a share, up 25 cents from Friday.